title: An OP4 functional stream in the language-related neuroarchitecture.
abstract: Sensory comprehension and motor production of language symbols form the basis of human speech. Classical neuroanatomy has pointed to Wernicke's and Broca's areas as playing important roles in the integration of these 2 functions. However, recent studies have proposed that more direct pathways may exist between auditory input and motor output, bypassing Wernicke's and Broca's areas. We used functional network analyses to investigate potential auditory-motor (A-M) couplings between language-related cortices. We found that operculum parietale (OP) interconnectivity in region OP4 seems to play a critical role in the A-M integration of the brain. This finding supports a novel landscape in the functional neuroarchitecture that sustains language in humans.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA and Athinioula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sepulcre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: auditory–motor (A–M) interface; functional connectivity; graph theory; language; network